“Thank you.” I hurried toward his office, pausing in the entranceway. Would he want me to go in when he wasn’t there? The door hadn’t been closed, so I assumed there was nothing top secret in there. Though, it wasn’t as if the public could easily get access to this place.
As quickly as I could, I left his jacket over the back of his chair then wrote a short note asking him to call me. I was ready to talk to him. But not right away. I rushed out of his office and waved to Janice on my way past. “Thank you. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” she called as I launched myself into the open elevator.
My heart raced on the ride down, and I clenched my fists, unsure what to say to Desmond. I rushed out of the building and to the bus terminal to wait for a ride back to work. We still had to get everything organized for our last day of handing out food and toys before the holidays. Thinking about that as well as the time off I would have until the new year, helped ease some of my anxiety. By the time I arrived at my bus stop, I felt calm. Yet not quite ready to go back to work.
I took out my phone to check if Desmond had texted. Nothing.
Then I called my parents.
“Kane, is everything okay? I thought you were at work.”
The concern in my dad’s voice startled me. “Um, yeah. I’m just on break.”
“Oh, okay. I’m not used to hearing from you at this time of day.”
“I, um…” I switched my phone to my other, more steady hand. “I wanted to ask you something. Before I forget.”
“What is it? You’re still coming over tomorrow evening, right?”
“Yes, and I’ll be staying over for Christmas, too. I was just wondering if I could… You see, I’ve gone out with this guy a couple times.”
My dad gasped loud enough, I was sure everyone from two blocks away could hear it through my phone. “You’re dating someone and you’re just telling me now?”
I cringed, regretting having called, but I couldn’t hang up now. “It’s not really official. I mean, I don’t know if—”
“Kane Northrop, do not doubt yourself. You are a beautiful and kind omega. Any alpha should be lucky for you to pay them any attention. Now, tell me about this guy.”
“Um…” My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t grabbed any lunch while I was out. “He’s one of the donors. The one who was on TV with me. From Adan Records.”
“Okay, he’s handsome. I’m sure he has a stable income if he works there.” I heard the hesitation in my dad’s words. “But does he treat you well?”
I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “We’ve only been out twice. Both times, he was a perfect gentleman.”
“That’s good to hear. So, you called to tell me about him now. Why couldn’t you wait until tomorrow night? What’s happening between now and then?”
“I found out from one of his co-workers that he’s going to be alone for Christmas. He doesn’t know that I know. But I wondered—”
“If you could invite him to our home.”
“Just for Christmas dinner,” I blurted out as I switched my weight from one foot to the other. “I haven’t asked him yet. Idon’t even know if he’ll agree. I just wanted to ask you first before I said anything to him.”
“Of course.” My dad’s calm tone relieved the anxiousness that had built over the course of the call. “You know we will never turn anyone away over the holidays. Even some of the bad choices your siblings had decided to date before finding their mates. If you think he’s worthy of bringing to meet us, he is welcome in our home.”
“Okay, thanks, Dad. I’ll let you know what he says when I ask him.”
“I’m happy for you. I’ll talk to you later. Love and hugs.”
When I hung up, I noticed a new text message. From Desmond.
I opened it right away, needing to know if he ever wanted to see me again after I’d ignored him.
Would it be possible to meet up tonight? Maybe we could go for a walk and get dinner after?
That sounded like the perfect date after our first two were at Christmas parties with a bunch of other people. It was cold and would be dark, but I knew a place that would be well lit.
I would like that. Vista Park is a nice spot and has food trucks there.
